Tag: Monthly favourites

Hi everyone! Wow, it feels so recently that I did my January Favourites but…I guess that’s February for you. I truly cannot WAIT for spring to be on its way, although apparently it might snow here next week so that’s not sounding very likely at the moment.

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli I’d been meaning to read this for sooo long and was super exited when I saw that it was on sale as an eBook. (It might still be on sale on Amazon UK — you should go check it out.) It was so enjoyable although it kind of made me feel a bit bad about myself since like…I feel like I’m never going to date anyone… But yeah.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black This got me out of a small reading slump which was nice! I haven’t read such a gripping fantasy book in ages and I loved Jude. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

The Good Place Yes, I know, I’m kind of late to the party in watching this. But I LOVE IT A LOT. And I’m only on series 1; I have reason to believe that things get kind of wild in series 2 so I’m excited. I adore all of the characters! Also, I feel like there’s some good good opportunity for Tahani/Eleanor content. (Insert the eye emoji here. You know the one.)

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman I barely ever enjoy adult books so that was quite a new experience for me. It’s one of my favourite books I’ve read for my school book club, I think.

I watched the trailer for A Wrinkle in Time! Finally! I know I’m like 3 months too late but I thought I’d already watched it. Turned out that was just the teaser trailer and ACTUALLY there was EVEN MORE good content for my to see. But it looks awesome, right?!?

I…sucked again at remembering to keep track of the posts I loved. Sorry. I’ve just been kind of too busy and exhausted to keep up with everything.

in the diary:

I helped with my school play again! I was doing sound. I was one of only two people in Year 11 helping with it (all the cast were younger than us) but it was still super fun and I’m so proud of the production. Although this is my last show before the sixth form musical next year which is EXCITING but also SCARY. Now I have to learn to use the sound desk somehow 😬

Uh, mocks finished? I’m really happy with my results but also now I’m just stressed 24/7 about GCSEs, coursework, and the future. ARGHHHHHHH.

Probably some other stuff, but as ever, I struggle to remember. To be honest I feel not great right now. I think I’ve cried every day this week.

how’s your month going? did you see black panther? how’s the weather where you are?

Finally, my exams are finished! I wish I could say I feel free again, but I still have so much ahead of me. *sweats* Anyway, I am rather looking forward to February. The last month has been not my favourite ever. I have been combating that by consuming some good good art.

Emotion by Carly Rae Jepsen I rarely find myself listening to whole albums on repeat, but this is one of those albums. I am OBSESSED with it. I’m so glad that I’m just, like, finally accepting that actually I just super love pop and this fills me with courage and joy with every listen. (Except maybe Warm Blood. Sorry but that’s my least favourite, oops.)

Hamilton BOY OH BOY OH BOY. I finally saw this on the West End this month and!! It as so incredible! I thought all the actors were incredible but I especially loved the performances of Rachel John (Angelica Schuyler) and Giles Terera (Aaron Burr). I do slightly regret that I was feeling anxious due to exams but I’m so grateful that I got to see this.

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren I bought this using a book token I got for Christmas and I’m so glad I did! It was so readable and cute, definitely a good antidote to exams. It really pulled at my feelings and I liked reading about a queer religious character because I feel like I don’t see that very often? But that could also very much be due to the fact that I haven’t actively sought them out.

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby I got this book for Christmas and I’m loving it SO MUCH. It’s a book of essays which is kind of…new and uncharted territory for me but I’m so glad I picked it up.

The Adventure Zone ‘But, Eve!’ I hear you say. ‘Didn’t you start listening to this podcast like a year and a half ago?’ To which I answer: yes. And, also yes, I am only just coming to the end of the first Balance campaign. But, god, it is hitting me SO HARD in the feels. I feel it’s come so far since the first story and I’ve also travelled with it. It means so much to me and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.

Patsy Walker! AKA Hellcat by Kate Leth & Brittney Williams I finally managed to get the last volume of it out of the library after waiting like 6 months! IT WAS SO GOOD AND I’M SO UPSET IT WAS CANCELLED AFTER THIS. It’s one of the few mainstream/superhero comics that I’ve actually found myself invested in and I wish I could read more ones like it. 😦 Like, action is okay but plEASE just give me soft queer happy friends.

how has your january been? have you had any exams? what albums do you listen to on repeat?

Can you believe it’s November already?!? ME NEITHER. HOW IS IT EVEN AUTUMN YET. We are creeping towards the end of the year… And I am here with a monthly wrap up, actually kind of on time!

History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera I’d been wanting to read this book for SO LONG and it finally came into my school library! I was pretty excited and it lived up to that — just, like. WOAH. The writing is so good and it was very gripping and also I cried a bunch of times which doesn’t normally happen to me. One of my favourite recent reads.

Middlemarch: The Show This webseries is a modern adaptation of Middlemarch by george Eliot and OH MY GOODNESS IT IS AMAZING. I’m not very far through yet but I LOVE IT and I love everyone! Especially Dot and Fred! And also Max and Celia and Jamie and Billie actually okay I kind of love everyone. My queer heart cannot take it. I’d highly recommend it, and you can watch from the start here!

Warcross by Marie Lu I already did a mini review of this here, but I thought I’d give it a mention here too! I loved the world, it was super enjoyable, and I just couldn’t put it down. Can’t wait for the sequel!

Woke Doctor Who This podcast is, in its own words, a podcast about race and representation with an Asian lady from DC and a Black lady from Baltimore. I’ve only just discovered it but I’m already loving it SO MUCH. I’m a pretty new Doctor Who fan & I’m hoping to take this opportunity to watch over some of the episodes I haven’t yet seen! You can check it out here.

The Great British Bake Off Okay, I was pretty sad when I heard Mary Berry, Mel and Sue were leaving, and I didn’t watch it for the first few weeks because I kept forgetting, but… I admit that I succumbed and now I am very excited by it. (We try to watch it recorded so the ads can be skipped.) All my favourites were out before the final which is unusual and kind of sucked, but I’m still looking forward to the final this evening. I guess I’ll have watched it by the time this comes out? Oh well.

in the diary:

I…was not very good at storing up blog links this month, oops. Or really reading blog posts at all. I’ve been kind of stressed out with school to be honest. This seems to be something that I’m saying often this term, and sadly I’m not sure it’s going to get better. I might even have to take a hiatus here which sucks but at the moment I’m struggling to write blog posts as frequently as I used to.

I attended the region selection for international Girlguiding trips — and I got on a trip, yay! I’m still figuring out my gender and I’m not sure if I actually am a girl, so I’m not sure that I should be spending much more time in Guides. But I haven’t come out to my parents yet and I don’t know how to quit otherwise, so for the moment I’m still there. I also didn’t want to quit something I enjoy if I change my mind about gender stuff later? So yeah, I dunno.

It was Halloween! I went over to my friend’s house where we played games and ate lots of food which was super fun. My costume was kind of…queer witch? To be honest I don’t know. Just generic witchiness. Also a long ginger wig. Here’s my face, because I’m pleased with this look:

how has your month been? done anything nice? what are your plans for november?

Rainbow by Kesha I saw a bunch of people listening to this album and I AM SO GLAD I LISTENED TO IT TOO. It’s not perfect but there are so many songs I loved — from jams like Woman to songs such as Rainbow and Spaceship which do make me a bit teary.

Young Avengers I finally picked up the last volume in this series and I’M SO SAD THAT WAS THE END because I enjoyed it so much! It’s one of the first superhero comics that I’ve really got into and I’m very much looking forward to reading more about these characters in the future. (Miss America has a solo series. And I think there are the previous Young Avengers comics too. But I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to these things.)

Brooklyn 99 I feel like I might have talked about this before on my faves? WHO KNOWS ANYMORE, NOT ME. I’ve just about finished the first series which is an amazing show of commitment for me when it comes to a TV show (I can barely make it through 8 40-minute episodes) and AAH! I I love that everyone loves and supports each other and it’s very wonderful to watch. However, in the last episode I watched Gina talks about her ‘spirit animal’ which is a Super Not Okay thing to do and it wasn’t at all called out, so, that really sucks.

Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat Another EXCELLENT comic here. It’s super cute, features a bunch of LGBTQ+ characters, and friends being wonderful with each other. Just, yeah. So wonderful. Though again I’m sad that this wraps up after a few volumes since it got cancelled. 😦 Is there a theme with the comics I’m talking about…?

Yerma I saw the Young Vic production of this with Billie Piper broadcast live at the cinema and WOW. I didn’t really know what I was getting into beforehand so it was quite hard-hitting but I thought it was such a great piece of theatre.

The Diviners by Libba Bray Well, it’s October and I still haven’t quite finished this, but I’m loving it so far — which is cool since I wasn’t really expecting that? (To be fair, I don’t quite know what I was expecting. But not magic and murder in 20s New York. THE COVER I HAVE MISLED ME, OKAY?) Plus, I’ve just found out that the sequel includes more of one of my favourite side characters, Henry, so yay for that.

I started following the newsletter Two Bossy Dames when one of my favourite podcasts Witch Please how many times can I fit it into this post did a guest letter and I’m loving it! I’m new to newsletters (haha, amazing joke, I know right) so I didn’t really know what to expect but I just adore having all these links and things to go read… If you have any recommendations for newsletters I’d love to hear them!

I’ve definitely read some great posts, but…I’m kind of tired right now and I don’t want to miss any out. Hopefully I’ll be better at keeping track of them over October, my apologies.

in the diary:

Well, school started? It feels like I’ve been back for ages. We’ve packed so much in. Year 11 is…alright so far. A bit stressful, especially since it feels like everyone is always talking about A levels and careers whilst I freak out internally but, there we go.

Can I think about anything that’s not school…uh…

WAIT it was my birthday! Yay! I’m now 16 which feels very weird. But, it’s cool, I guess, and I’m looking forward to having my friends over for some fun. *nods* I have been kind of ill over my birthday though which sucks.

I went to the book launch It’s Only in the Movies by Holly Bourne! I was a big fan of the free content, especially the popcorn. Maybe a hint to other book events…? I can’t decide if I should do a recap of it so let me know what you think.

It was my school House music competition, which was pretty stressful since we had rehearsals almost every day for two weeks, but also SUPER fun and rewarding. (I am lucky in that I do love the people in my house and also I love singing in choirs.) Unfortunately we didn’t place but I’m still super proud of us.

how has your september been? did you return to education like me? have you read any good books?

*rolls in* That’s right folks, I’m back! And I am here with a summer favourites post! I am sacrificing the vaguely nice weather to write this so, you know, hopefully it’s worth it. And hopefully I can stop thinking about going back to school (yikes). Here are some things I have been loving over the last three months.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor I’d been putting off buying this for ages because, well, it’s kind of expensive in hardback, and I thought it might come into the library, but in the end I just went for it. I’m so glad I did! Although it was a pretty long book, I was super invested in it, and I especially loved Lazlo. As ever the writing was stunning, let me cry.

Angels in America This is showing at the National Theatre right now and although I couldn’t get tickets to see it live, I was able to see it broadcast live at the cinema near me. I saw it with my grandma and parents, which I think was pretty interesting since we each had really different personal experiences relating to the play. Even though I was a bit worried about the long running time (it’s about 8 hours) I thought this was incredible and I ended up becoming very invested in the characters. Even though most of them were kind of not great people? But I guess, you know — people suck sometimes. The production of the play was also stunning, oh my goodness.

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James I was lucky enough to snag an early copy of this at YALC and I loved it even more than Lauren James’ other books, I think! What can I say, I just LOVE space stories. It was such a page turner; I read it in like 12 hours because I just couldn’t put it down. I’d definitely recommend you to read it when it comes out next month!

The Incredible Jessica James I just watched this movie (on recommendation of the excellent Secret Feminist Agenda podcast) and I LOVED IT. Jessica was just, super funny & cool and I definitely didn’t almost cry at the end. GIRLS SUPPORTING GIRLS GIVES ME LIFE. (Also Jessica Williams is pretty oh my goodness.)

Our Dark Duet by VE Schwab Is it supposed to be Victoria Schwab because YA? I dunno. I’m pretty sure the UK version is VE Schwab. Anyway, this book tore me apart and also tore me apart with writing. *flails* That is really all I have to say.

You by Dodie I’m fine…ahaha… No, actually this EP was SO WONDERFUL and I LOVE IT A LOT. In particular I think I really love the titular song, You, which I’d never heard before! Though of course I adore all of them.

The Bright Sessions Evi @ Adventuring Through Pages talks about this podcast a lot so I decided to start listening and…well…I AM OBSESSED. I finally caught up about two weeks ago and just. MY HEART. It’s about people with superpowers except it’s more about how they interact and arGH I LOVE ALL OF THEM SO MUCH. (Except some of the characters who are horrible. But, you know.)

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde Another book I finally picked up after hearing so many wonderful things. I just adore books about nerds and cons and this was hella cute! Again, I devoured it in like 12 hours.

stuff from around the internet:

Following the events in Charlottesville, Sara Benincasa compiled a list of organisations you can donate to if you’re able, and Ijeoma Oluo wrote about fighting white supremacy on The Establishment. Although these events happened in the USA, and I’m in the UK, I think this piece is still super relevant.

Em @ (the newly rebranded!) Yellow’s The Word talked about resources you can use for language-learning. Although the post is for learning over the summer it’s still super useful!

The trailer for A Wrinkle in Time was released and WOAH IT LOOKS GOOD. I can’t remember reading the book, I confess, although my mum swears I loved it, but I’m super pumped to see the movie.

I also updated my Redbubble shop! I put on a bunch of new designs featuring cats, blogging, and space and I actually love them a lot so, if you fancy buying one or forwarding on the link do check it out. 😉

in the diary:

Oh wow, June feels so long ago. Erm…well, I had internal exams at school! And they went well overall!

WHOO SUMMER HOLIDAYS. I went camping with my family which was super fun! I got to spend a bit of time away from everything and also spot the various cute animals around the campsite.

I went to my first ever Pride in London which was WOAH. Somehow my friends & I ended up walking in the parade with all the commercial floats, so sorry about that? But also it was so amazing to be around so many cool people and just, like, see other visible LGBTQ+ people??? yeah?? it was fun?

In July I went to the Young Adult book event, YALC! Aah! I’d been looking forward to this event for so long and it was SO GOOD. I just love books a lot, y’all. Please do feel free to check out my full recap here. 😉

I don’t know how much you follow my personal rambles about gender so just to let y’all know, I’m currently using they/them pronouns.

Probably some other stuff happened but as ever I…can’t really remember it. I’m off to school this week which is kind of yikes.

You might remember that this time last year I decided to switch from monthly to seasonal favourites. Short story is: I think I might do monthly ones again! However, I won’t doing my usual layout with all the items in an image, because to be honest that’s the most difficult part. I’m not completely sure yet, but three months is just a super long time to keep up with stuff, and I simply don’t have the space to include all the things I love. So, maybe monthly ones it is? We’ll see. *nods*

how have your last few months been? are you returning to or back at school? read any of these books?

Yes! We are reaching the start of summer which means TIME FOR A SPRING ROUND-UP. Today it has been very warm and I am generally feeling happy, which…well, makes a change. You may notice that I’m missing my usual picture with all my favourites; this is due to a combination of a) I don’t have loads of time now because reVISION *flails arms* and b) I don’t have any physical objects to arrange this time so it would just, be like, photoshopped images. And I’m not good enough to do make all of that work.

1. Twelfth Night I saw this play at the National and WOAH it was so good! The production was honestly stunning — as in, like, the set was beautiful and the live music was beautiful. It was just so pleasing to the senses. Malvolia was…really different to what I was expecting, and two years since reading the play I am still mad at the ending, but overall I loved it a lot.

2. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas I couldn’t stop thinking about this book, even once I had put it down. Beautiful, writing, a powerful story — it definitely lived up to the hype, and it’s one of my best reads I can remember.

3. Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg To be honest, I initially downloaded it because it was cheap on Kindle, but I ended up enjoying it a lot! I NEED TO GET THE SEQUEL NOW, GODAMMIT.

4. Dodie Soooo, in March I was lucky enough to be able to see Dodie on her UK tour with my friends, and it was SO FUN. I’d actually never been to a concert before, and it was so lovely to see Dodie just generally being wonderful and great and music. The band, including the warm-up act Rusty Clanton, were also great, and now I’ve been introduced to some new music!

5.The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla I’ve wanted to read this for a while, so I was really excited to see it the school library! Each essay was different, but each one brought something different, and made me think hard.

6. Las Chicas del Cable Both me & my mum are learning Spanish, so we decided to watch this show on Netflix about women in 1920s Madrid. (It is dubbed, but I’m watching in Spanish with English subtitles.) The production is just gorgeous, and although at times it feels a bit melodramatic there is feminism and queer women and so much to love!!

7. Hidden Figures Aaah! This was awesome!It was great to see the stories of these super smart & inspiring black women told, and I also feel like a learnt History Stuff. *nods*

Amber @ The Mile Long Bookshelf wrote an awesome guide for young people voting in the upcoming UK General Election.

Olivia @ Books and Big Ideas wrote a super smart post about 13 Reasons Why, and the Prestige TV audience.

in the diary:

Well, I had a music exam… It didn’t go quite to plan, but I think I still passed, so fingers crossed! I might even get my results by the time this post is actually published. *winces a little at the thought*

We had a big family gathering for my aunt’s 60th birthday over the bank holiday, which was super nice because we rarely ever get together — my mum is one of 7 — and I got to see my super cute little cousins!

Exams are coming up so, erm, I have some fun revision to look forward to. -_-

I managed to survive my overnight walk for cadets at school, which I’m pretty pleased about! I’m rather ache-y now, but we did walk 35k, and our team only got super lost once which I think is impressive haha.

I went to a Witch, Please meetup! *screams a bit* Although I had to leave early, it was SO COOL AND WONDERFUL.

ALSO IT WAS EUROVISION. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL AND EXCELLENT and basically just a nice thing in the not-great world. Plus, I managed to convince my friends to be Eurovision fans, hehe 😉

Probably some other stuff happened, but quite frankly I can’t remember it at this point. I’m off to see the new Studio Ghibli movie The Red Turtle tomorrow, which I’m rather excited for.

how have you been? seen any good movies recently? are you taking any exams?

YES, I AM ALIVE. HI. Yes. Onto favourites it is. Just as I am getting tired of winter, it feels like spring is about to arrive… I can’t wait to have a few less grey and cold days haha. December feels like SO LONG AGO. But here we are, and I must press forwards!

1. Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour I feel like I’ve read a lot of great books recently, but I loved this one a lot!! It was so aesthetic and lovely and yay for happy queer girls! I thought Emi’s movie production thing was super cool and in general this was just a very happy read for me.

2. Rent I’ve been a fan of Rent for a while, and I was so overjoyed to hear that it was going on a UK tour! (Because it hasn’t been showing anywhere for a good while.) I went to see it at the end of December and aaah it was so excellent! The cast absolutely KILLED it — I was going to list the actors I thought stood out here, but then I kind of started to list them all? — the set was awesome, and overall it just really added to my experience of the cast recording and movie. I’m still flailing.

3. Podcasts I CAN’T FIT EVERYTHING INTO MY POST, noo! I feel like I am basically the only person ever who didn’t enjoy Welcome to Night Vale — I mean, it was cool, but I found it too creepy to listen to alone in the house or at night, which is basically when I listen to podcasts. (They’re great for cleaning.) But I have found others, and I am slowly but surely making my way through Witch, Please, The Adventure Zone, and Penumbra Podcast — all of which are wildly different but each excellent in their own way. If you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them! (Although bear in mind it takes me forever to listen to things haha.)

4. Your Name Oh man, THIS MOVIE. THIS MOVIE. It’s the best movie I’ve seen in absolutely ages. It’s an anime movie, but as with many Ghibli movies the animation is the medium for a really excellent piece of art. (Although the animation was also part of that art.) It starts off kind of like Freaky Friday, with a girl in the country and a boy in Tokyo switching lives but then MORE STUFF HAPPENS. It did exactly something that I look for — seeking out one of those weird indescribable feelings, the ones that give you an ache in your chest. I can’t recommend this highly enough, to be honest. (The soundtrack is also absolutely excellent.)

5. A Conjuring of Light by VE Schwab Yeah, no, just excuse me whilst I GO DIE A LITTLE BIT. It’s so, so weird to think that this series is done with — although perhaps I do not flail about it as much as other things, I love it a lot! It’s just so…GOOD. Aah I don’t want to let the characters nooooo. *cries* But if the series had to end, then I think it was in the best way possible.

6. Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency I KNOW. I watched a whole TV show in under a month?? Crazy, right?! I’m really terrible at finishing TV shows, but for some reason I found this really easy to watch, and I loved it a lot! Dirk Gently is a smol cinnamon roll. He and Todd are definitely detective boyfriends. Farah and Amanda are definitely detective/awesome person girlfriends. I fully expect this from the next series, okay?

7. Skam I feel kinda bad putting this on here because I haven’t watched all of it — I am just bad at finding TV shows, but yeah. I will watch the other series! Because Noora is beautiful and wonderful and I definitely need to see more of her! I did enjoy the episodes that I’ve watched, though. (I’m also midway through watching Yuri on Ice, which is wonderful. I shall update when I am finished!)

8. When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore I know that I’ve already put this in my various wrap-ups, but MAN IT WAS SO GOOD. I got it for Christmas and it was everything I’d hoped for: magical prose, engaging and complex characters, and again something that really made me feel, deeply. I feel like this is getting really highbrow for a favourites post, but NEVER MIND.

stuff from around the internet:

Yet again I forgot to make a list of the posts that I enjoyed over the last few months, ARGH. Oh well. Here are some ones that I wrote instead!

in the diary:

A lot of stuff happened! There was Christmas, when I saw all my family which was really nice. My friends & I also had a stall at our school Christmas fair which was fun, and we managed to raise some money for charity. 🙂

I did some technical stuff for my school play which was really exciting… I mean, My job was basically to press the buttons for the cues at the right time, but it’s actually SUPER DIFFICULT and I now have a lot of respect for people who do technical stuff. Although it was quite stressful I’m very glad I did it, especially since a bunch of my friends were there too! (Hopefully I will next year too?)

how have your last few months been? have you read/seen/listened to anything I mentioned here? how are you doing?

I know it’s December now, but it’s time for my autumn favourites! Time to rewind back to when I wasn’t playing carols and eating mince pies the whole time haha. These last three months have been a bit of a rollercoaster — lots of bad things, but also lots of good. LET’S GO.

1. YA Shot This was my first time at the one-day bookish festival YA Shot and I loved it! I wrote a longer recap here which you can check out, but overall SO MANY COOL AUTHORS and SO MANY COOL BOOKISH PEOPLE and I would definitely repeat the experience. 😀

2. As I Descended This is another book that I was super hyped for because HELLO, queer Macbeth modern retelling?!? I mean, I basically know nothing about Macbeth so I have no idea of its quality in retellings, but it was still a SUPER COOL and VERY CREEPY book. I actually had to stop reading it in the evenings because I got too scared… But since I, too, am also writing an (extremely) loose queer futuristic Shakespeare retelling, I thought I could see what the opposition was up to. 🙂

3. Carol I read the book that the movie was based on at the start of this year, and I was so excited to actually find the DVD in the library… I mean, it took a bit of maneuvring to wait until the house was empty to watch it ahaha. But SO WORTH IT. It was just such a beautiful and good film, mm.

4. Amadeus OH MY GOD THIS WAS AMAZING. I also saw another great play this autumn — The Red Barn — but I think Amadeus trumped that. Well, no, yeah, it did because WOW IT WAS SO BLOODY AMAZING. Tha acting?!?? The staging?!? The live orchestra?! The entire story??? I AM JUST SO DEAD. I was almost crying by the end, to be honest. Genuinely just…wow. If you’re able to see it at the theatre or even in a live cinema broadcast thing then I would so so urge you to do so.

5. BBC Class, not pictured obvs wasn’t pictured on purpose definitely not because I forgot to leave space for it in the photo ahahaha Ha. If you haven’t already noticed my copious flailings… I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS TV SHOW. I’ve literally just come from watching the finale and I think I’m a little bit dead. (I’m going to be so angry if there isn’t a second series. PEEPS IN THE USA, PLEASE WATCH IT WHEN IT COMES OUT IN SPRING.) Once again I direct you to my longer flailing post about why I love it which resides just here. 😛

6. Witch, Please This podcast analysing Harry Potter is basically everything I want in life. (I really love Harry Potter academia, for some reason? Just, like, don’t ask.) It’s actually made me look forward to my train journeys which is good! I’m not that many episodes in but I’m genuinely just enjoying them so much. Much beautiful ear noise.

7. Crooked Kingdom I know that this book is probably old news by now, or whatever. But I AM STILL HELLA EXCITED BY IT. Although it started off a little slow, it didn’t let me down at all and was such a strong counterpart to Six of Crows! I always need more angsty heist people. It was so wonderful to see all the characters and relationships develop, although I am still a little heartbroken by the way it all turned out ahaha. (Plus I met Leigh, eep still flailing! See below for more flails.)

stuff from around the internet:

*cries* ONCE AGAIN I DIDN’T MAKE A LIST OF ALL THE EXCELLENT POSTS I READ I FEEL SUPER SAD. I know I say this basically every time, but…yeah. I’m jsut going to link to a couple of interesting things I’ve been reading recently.

This post on The Gay YA discussed the ‘hero’s journey’ in trans YA and the firs steps we can take to see new narratives. (Putting into very eloquent words some things which I have felt reading books in the past.)

A thing about female characters in Harry Potter canon vs fic. THIS IS WHAT I LIVE FOR. Man, it was really interesting to see some actual stats for female characters in fic. Because, like, I love fic but it does have a lot of things that could be better. Cue my I’m-so-bitter-there-isn’t-enough-femslash-mdespite-majority-female-fans speech. (Also, A BLOG WITH LOTS OF FANFIC STATS. My heart sings.)

Michelle @ The Writing Hufflepuff also, like me, flailed about BBC Class and wrote a post about WHY YOU SHOULD ALL DEFINITELY WATCH IT.

in the diary:

Well…a bunch of stuff happened this autumn that was kind of crappy, both in my own personal life and otherwise. Probably most notably to the wider audience is the US election. Donald Trump won. I know that I and many others were/still are very upset by this, and I don’t think I can really say something more eloquently than others have already said it, but I’m sending out love to you guys.

Despite this bad political development — along with others — I did go to a cool thing which gives e hope in the world. I was lucky enough to get onto the Action For Change programme which is a year-long thing to help start social change! The inspiration weekend was AWESOME and hopefully I’m going to be talking about my project at some point in the future on this blog. 😀

And I’m actually really enjoying school right now, which makes a really nice change! I mean, it’s still school but I’m so pleased with the subjects I’m doing and just in general LEARNING YAS.

I DID COOL MUSICAL THINGS. I saw both In the Heights and Les Miserables for my second time which was just asdhjgjslel. I’M STILL MUSICAL TRASH, GUYS. (Also: The Hamilton Mixtape, amirite?)

I MET RAINBOW ROWELL AND LEIGH BARDUGO ON THEIR WORLDS COLLIDE TOUR OH MY GOOODNESSSSSSS *dies* I was basically just a flailing mess for the whole thing but AAH IT WAS SO COOL AND GOOD AND RAINBOW SIGNED ALL MY BOOKS AND I JUST CAN’T BELIEVE IT EVER HAPPENED. Here’s my cool poster:

Although I didn’t put it in my faves, I went to MCM London again in October and I cosplayed as Baron von Gikkingen! It was super cool to go to the Ghibli meet up again — photos here! — and I also went to a Class panel. (In addition to, as per usual, spending too much money. :P)

I did NaNoWriMo and I COMPLETED MY GOAL YAY. To be fair, it was only 15k but I’m still proud of myself. I do feel like my quality of writing is improving with each time I do NaNo. I basically don’t work on my WIP otherwise, so. Hopefully this’ll change in the future and I’ll actually manage to finish a whole draft haha.

how are you? are you doing okay? how have the last few months been for you?

You may have noticed that my monthly favourites just sort of…disappeared from the blog. I know it didn’t have much of an explanation. BUT! Although it might sound hard to believe (I mean, this is me) I actually did have a master plan. 😛 From now on I’m going to be doing round-ups every three months — that is, quarterly. Except it’s going to run from December – February, March – May etc. because seasons and cohesion. Yeah. DON’T ASK. Doing a round-up every month was just becoming a bit of a chore for me, but I still wanted to be able to check in and share the great posts I’ve been reading. Hopefully I’ll start being more organised with keeping track of posts haha!

1. Nothing’s Real by Shura YAY, I have listening to a bunch of great queer music lately! I first came across Shura when I found her video What’s It Gonna Be? on Tumblr, which to be honest STILL makes me sigh in happiness. It is so wonderful and cute and excellently aesthetic and you all need to click on that link right now…(No, seriously: KEEP WATCHING TO THE END. It’s fab.) Anyway, I bought her full album and it’s awesome and now I might have a tiny crush…? Erm. Anyway.

2. Japanese Woah, guys. I ACTUALLY LEARNT SOME JAPANESE. (I’m attempting to learn some for my trip next year.) I feel so proud of myself. I’ve only done the first few lessons in my textbook (an old edition of Japanese For Busy People) and a bit of a Memrise but I feel very productive. I’ve also signed up to an online course on Minato, so let’s see how that goes.

3. This Savage Song by VE Schwab Let’s be real: it’s a Schwab book. It was always going to end up in my favourites. The writing was beautiful as I per usual and I adored all of the characters! It was also completely awesome to be able to go to one of her events, asdfjkl. (In a subtle bit of self-promotion: here! check out the post where I wrote about it! :P)

4. Isn’t It Strange? by Lauren Aquilina *shrieks* A NEW LOZZA AQ FULL LENGTH ALBUM, WHAT IS LIIIFE. I’ve listened to it in full about 3 times already and…honestly. I think my life is complete. IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL. Expect more flailing in the future. 😉

5. Mr Robot Another programme I finally got round to watching. I find it a bit intense and occasionally a bit of a downer, but it’s a seriously awesome programme. I have 2 episodes left of the first series to watch. (Yes. I know. I watch TV programmes pretty rarely and if I do it’s with the pace of a snail. This is impressive for me.)

6. Serial I downloaded this podcast to my ancient iPod some time ago, but I only recently got round to listening to it. And woah, it’s so gripping! I’d definitely recommend it.

7. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow I am very proud of myself for finishing this brick of a book. It evens rivals The Brick (aka Les Mis) for historical density. Despite its length, though, I actually found it super readable! And…well. My Hamilton obsession is only increasing, to be honest. I’d recommend it to anyone with an interest in the American Revolution! (Because history actually is as crazy as the musical.)

8. Slovenia and Croatia So, my big trip this summer was travelling with Guides around Slovenia and Croatia! I’d been fundraising and working together with 13 other girls from my area for just under a year and the trip was absolutely AMAZING. I mean…Girlguides is a little weird for me, because obviously everyone assumes you’re a girl. But it was so nice and asadfjkl I AM FILLED WITH JOY FOR GUIDING & SCOUTING. If you guys ever get the chance to go on an international trip with a scouting organisation I’d definitely recommend it! ❤

Both alwaysopinionatedgirl and Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense wrote about the wonderfulness of Ginny Weasley and why she is more than just a love interest. *coughs* like the movies made her out to be *coughs*

Michelle @ The Writing Hufflepuff created the Amsterdam Book Tag, which is SERIOUSLY cool. And I definitely need to do it. Everyone: PLEASE REMIND ME TO DO THIS.

The world has been blessed with new Hayley Kiyoko music and a video! Mmm, the song is called Gravel to Tempo seriously wonderful.

Look! The cast of Class! Only the new Doctor Who spin off written by Patrick Ness. I am…actually really excited for this ahaha. *nods* It’s due to air around October, which will hopefully keep me surviving through school.

Ayy, the BBC is making a Les Mis miniseries. I AM SO HYPED. I was so hyped that I even wrote about all the things I want to see in it. I will doubtless be nattering to you all about this in the future, because HELLO I am still very much a Les Mis nerd haha.

in the diary:

Well. June was a little dominated by a) internal exams over the first half and b) Brexit over the second. I mean…I don’t want to write a massive thing about Brexit now because that’s a whole post in itself. I think it’s fair to say that whilst I am feeling a lot better about it, it’s always a jolt in my mind when I remember. I just finished reading Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton and he’s all like tryign to create a system with a balance of government and people. And I do feel like this is an example of something popular but not good… Like, WHY ARE WE MAKING THINGS SO DIFFICULT ON PURPOSE. But yeah. Anyways. British politics is crazy right now ahaha.

However, June was also Pride month! This was my first time actually reading & participating slightly more in stuff so that rocked. I am still sad that I couldn’t make it to London Pride, but I swear to you: NEXT YEAR.

I went to Wimbledon and saw Serena & Venus Williams, which I am STILL VERY IN AWE ABOUT. Asdfjkl it was a pretty insane day.

I was so excited to do a swap box with the lovely Em @ Adventures of a Lost Teen! I mean, the internet is great and all but sometimes it’s awesome to get something real in the post. There were loads of wonderful things in it besides the ones pictured as well! (But THAT BOOKMARK THO.) You can check out Em’s post with my swap box here.

I learnt how to make lemon curd and subsequently made it several times. IT’S SO FREAKING TASTY. And it’s really easy to make! (Which is good for me considering I’m not the best cook ever.)

I’ve just generally be hanging out and doing fun things over the summer: meeting friends, making ice cream, going into town. Writing. Reading. It’s wonderful to have some time on my hands. 🙂

I head back to school today — well, I’m writing this a little earlier, but on the first — and although school and work and stress…I’m also pretty excited to be starting another year. 🙂 I’ve dropped a bunch of subjects this year and we’re getting entirely new classes so it should be good! And I am weirdly excited for the History syllabus, to be honest haha.

I hope you all had a good summer! And if any of you guys got your exam results back then congrats, and I hope you’re pleased.

how was your summer? are you back at school (or not)? listened to any good music lately?

AAH MAY IS DONE. Which means…EXAMS! *freaks out* But it’s okay, they’re not actual big scary exams for me. I am constantly amazed by all of you who are doing those, and I wish you all the best of luck.

1. Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz I was lucky enough to win this from Chiara Sullivan and AAAH IT WAS SO GOOD. I’ve been wanting to read one of Hannah Moskowitz’s books for ages and this was such a good first impression. I’m definitely going to be picking up more of her books soon. YES WEIRD MERMAID FAIRYTALES. Although my heart is kind of broken, but whatever.

2. Billy Elliot Also a film I have been meaning to watch for way too long. IT WAS SO GOOD?!? Now I feel like so motivated about dancing, even though I have never been a dancer in my life and I’m not going to be. Like, I don’t really know what to say other than insert a lot of superlatives here.

3. MCM London YAY CONS. I always put them here, but they’re always awesome. So. I cosplayed as Jehan from Les Mis for this — you can check out my costume here — and I now have NO MONEY. Mwahaha. I bought an absolute ton of Japanese sweets, arty things, and also several pairs of cute socks. (They were Totoro and cats.) Plus, I finally got round to buying Lucy Saxon’s Take Back the Skies which I’m enjoying so far!

4.Inception Okay, so I finally watched this movie. I mean, I wish it had more female characters but I did love the premise. ( I’M SORRY. I’ve read Inception AUs already. I think they gave me a lot better idea of what was actually happening.) But YAY heists and weird mind bending stuff! Also, Arthur is the shy dude Cameron from 10 Things I Hate About You and I spent the whole movie trying to figure out where I recognised him from.

5. WitchyYay webcomics! I’ve been reading a lot of excellent ones lately, but I’m loving this in particular. It has such beautiful art and colouring, as well as an awesome fantasy world and adorable characters. (The longer your hair, the more powerful your magic.) (I would fail in this world. BUT IT’S COOL ANYWAY.)

6. Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 I started listening to this musical adaptation of a (very small) part of War & Peace purely because Philippa Soo is Natasha. But IT’S FABULOUS. I really love the mix of operatic and electronic styles! Now I’m kind of thinking I might have to read War & Peace. (Why do heavy classical books make such good musicals? Is that a rule? *shrugs*)

7. Half Mystic I DIDN’T HAVE A PICTURE. But anyway. I’ve been spending some wonderful evenings appreciating this journal. I FEEL SO INSPIRED. There’s an absolute ton of amazing creators in there aah. I really recommend you go get yourself a copy! ❤

Stuff from around the internet:

An Overthinking Teenager and I wrote a collab review of Lauren Aquilina’s new music! You can read my review here and AOT’s here. 🙂

In the latest episode of Eve Tries To Analyse Fandom™, here is an article about fan entitlement. I mean, I don’t agree 100% with everything the author says but it’s definitely a worthwhile read.

Also, there was a surprisingly good programme on Radio 4 about non-binary identities. (I KNOW. Radio exists online?!? I don’t know if people from all countries can listen, but there’s definitely going to be some stuff I’m checking out.)

In the diary:

I did my clarinet exam and I got a distinction! 😀 YAY I’M SO HAPPY. I thought I’d really worked hard for this grade, so I’m super glad it payed off.

CARNEGIE BOOK CLUB IS FINISHED. *falls to floor* This year was so good! I was really impressed with the standard, and I found a lot more that I liked compared to other years. My personal favourite is probably still Lies We Tell Ourselves, but One and The Lie Tree are both in second.

I saw A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Globe, which was insane but also fun. THE MUSIC WAS GREAT. Especially the Puck music. I’m also off to see Romeo and Juliet, which I think should be fun. I’ve studied it in quite a lot of detail so I think it’d be cool to see acted…?

We are singing Carmina Burana in choir and it is Very Very Fun and also Very Very Difficult. *laughs manically*

Boris Johnson is no longer Mayor of London. We can celebrate. No, I’m actually pretty pleased with Sadiq Khan. He isn’t perfect but he’d probably have been my choice if I could vote. And I definitely appreciate how somebody has finally managed to get their act together and join across parties in support of the Remain campaign.

how has your month been? have you been taking exams? or are you still? if so, good luck from me! ❤